Six Elements Meditation (11-22-20)

A guided meditation using the natural elements of earth, air, fire, water, light, and sound to connect to the body, emotions, breath, thoughts, self, others, and your environment. This is a mindfulness meditation with no visualisation needed! (Improved audio levels - March 2021.)

Transcript

So just as we're getting ready to start,

You want to make sure you're just sitting comfortably.

You can lie down if you choose,

It's up to you.

There's no particular posture you need and you can have your eyes open or closed at any point during the meditation.

And yeah,

Just take my words as suggestions,

As guidance.

Feel free to stay with one element of meditation for longer.

I'll move on spending about five minutes in each element,

But you're welcome to,

If you're enjoying one particularly,

Just to stay with that.

Don't feel like you have to go at my pace.

Okay so I think we should probably make a start.

So the first element is earth.

So connecting with the body,

With your physicality.

And in particular,

Feeling the sensation of connection between your body and the ground.

So whatever's supporting you right now,

The chair,

The floor.

Feeling that connection,

For example,

Feeling the sensation in the soles of your feet against the floor.

And allow your body to be supported.

And now get a sense of the weight of your body.

Really feel that physical sensation of weight.

You may feel it as lightness or heaviness.

Just notice how that feels for you right now.

And the more we relax the body,

The more we can really feel that sensation and allow the body's weight to be held and supported by the ground.

So this is a good beginning to really ground ourselves,

Feel stable and supported.

So how we connect this to the earth is simply to realize that this sensation of weight that we're feeling right now is actually the gravity,

The pull of the earth on the body.

So not just in this moment,

But in every moment the earth is attracting our bodies towards itself.

When I feel the weight of the body,

When I feel that immediate physical sensation in the body right now,

I am feeling the earth,

The interaction with the earth.

So this isn't imagination or visualization,

But the direct reality of our connection with the earth as a sensation in our bodies right now.

So I'm not creating this sensation,

I'm not imagining or visualizing it,

I'm sensing and feeling the reality of it right now,

Simply becoming more aware of what was already there.

Allowing myself to feel this connection with something greater than myself,

With the whole earth.

And acknowledging and realizing that every one of us is feeling that exact same feeling.

The earth attracts each and every one of us exactly the same unconditionally and at every moment towards itself.

So we're sharing this experience right now.

So staying with that experience for as long as you choose.

And in your own time you can join me moving onto the second element.

And that's the element of air.

You can probably guess that with this element we're going to connect with our breath.

So become aware of your breathing right now.

Remember we're not looking to change anything so just be aware of your breath as it is.

Just allow it to come and go in its own time.

Just having the thought of allowing the breath in and letting go as you breathe out.

So we're not resisting the breath at all and we're not holding onto the breath at all.

Welcome the breath in and release,

Let go as you breathe out.

So through our breath we're connecting with the second element of air.

Just as when we connected with the earth,

Just acknowledging that it's the same air,

The same atmosphere of the earth that we're all breathing right now.

And again connecting with something larger than ourselves.

So aware of our individual breath,

Aware of that great expanse of air surrounding this.

Connecting with that element as we breathe.

And as we allow the breath,

See if you can shift your attitude to the breath slightly.

And instead of thinking I am breathing,

See if you can get a sense of being breathed.

So you're allowing the breath to happen to the body.

I don't have to make the breath happen,

I don't have to decide to breathe or remember to breathe.

Breathing occurs naturally and spontaneously.

I'm simply paying more attention to it,

Holding it within my awareness.

But it's happening all on its own.

So the element of air is breathing my body and breathing everybody's body.

And it is the element of air that gives the body life.

So we are all being given life right now by the air that we are breathing.

So being grateful and welcoming every breath.

So I'd invite you if you're ready to go.

And we need to move on to the third element,

Which is the element of fire.

And fire I connect with the emotions and the sensations in the body.

The fire of passion,

Of emotion.

That sensation of aliveness that we feel in the body.

It can be real energy and power in fire and in emotion.

So notice how you're feeling right now.

And see if you can connect your emotional state with a sensation or an energy of the body.

If we're happy or peaceful or angry or upset,

There'll be related sensations in the body.

Meditating on the element of fire is about connecting to those sensations.

The energy behind the emotion.

And as with the breath,

The invitation is to allow that sensation and that emotion to allow that fire to burn.

Just as it is in the body.

Welcoming,

Accepting,

Allowing.

Holding it within your awareness.

If it's a positive emotion,

Then this allows that positivity to express itself fully and freely.

Without reservation,

Without limitation.

It allows the strength of that positive emotion to grow.

Not through effort,

But just by allowing.

Giving it space.

Giving it freedom to express itself.

And if it's a negative emotion,

Then we're allowing that negative emotion to process and resolve.

To work through what it needs to work through.

And we can do that fearlessly.

By holding it within our awareness.

Allowing it to be as it is.

It's a real act of courage,

Of fearlessness.

Knowing we don't need to run away or suppress the negative emotions.

The more awareness we bring to the emotion,

The quicker and easier it can do what it needs to do.

To resolve itself and to be integrated into ourselves.

Negative emotions affect us most when we deny them or suppress them.

If we are fearless and accept them.

Allow the process to work through.

Then we become wiser,

More experienced.

More helpful for others.

Stronger.

And more whole.

And the connection with the air and the earth is also important as we work with the fire.

For the fire to burn,

To do what it needs to do,

It needs the air.

It needs the oxygen.

And for us to feel grounded and safe and fearless as the fire burns,

We need to be connected to the air.

To be grounded.

Connected to our bodies.

So we stay connected and we keep breathing.

And we allow the fire of emotion to burn in the body.

Giving us that power and that strength.

And the more we get to know the emotions inside ourselves,

The more we will be able to recognise the emotions in others.

Increasing our empathy,

Our compassion and our connection to others.

Sharing the positive emotions,

Helping each other through the negative emotions.

So just when you're ready,

You can join me as we move into the fourth element of water.

And I use water to connect to the mind and to the thoughts,

To the mental world.

My intention is to allow my thoughts to flow as freely as water,

To allow my flow of thoughts to be like a stream or a river.

So the water may be flowing fast or slow,

Maybe wide or narrow,

Calm or turbulent.

Whatever the content of my thoughts,

My aim is simply to allow them to flow freely through the mind.

Just as we allowed the fire of emotion,

As we allowed the air of our breath to flow freely,

We can do exactly the same with our thoughts.

Allow the river of our thoughts to flow freely.

So allow each thought to arise within your mind,

Welcome each thought.

And just as we allow each breath to leave the body after we've welcomed it into the body,

So I allow each thought to pass through the mind,

So I'm ready to receive the next thought.

And just as with the emotions,

The more I allow my thoughts,

Then I'm allowing the positive thoughts to come.

And I'm allowing the negative thoughts in time to resolve themselves.

So I'm not making any effort to create positive thoughts or to stop negative thoughts.

Whatever my thoughts are,

I welcome them and set them free,

Give them space to flow freely.

We tend to identify closely with our thoughts,

But really they're just another experience,

Like our breath,

Like sensations in the body.

So whatever the thoughts are,

I just let them come and go.

And we all have our private stream of thoughts.

But if we allow those thoughts to flow freely,

Unlike all the rivers,

They all end up eventually at the one ocean.

And if I don't identify too closely with my thoughts,

That gives me the freedom to connect more closely with others.

And with patience in time,

I may notice the depth of the ocean,

The depth of thought and the depth within the mind.

Even when at times there's storms on the surface,

I can connect to the one ocean and experience the depth and the stillness that's always there.

So again,

Allowing the thoughts and connecting with something greater than myself.

So the next element,

The fifth element,

Is the element of light and the light of awareness,

The light and awareness of the self.

So this time we're going to allow ourselves to just be ourselves,

Just as we allowed our breath and our thoughts,

Our feelings and sensations to be just as they are.

Can I allow myself to be just as I am,

Accepting myself completely as I am right now,

And simply enjoying just being,

Just being here,

Present and aware.

There's nothing I need to do,

Nowhere I need to be.

I'm giving myself this time just to be with myself and allow myself to be as I am in this moment.

And that sense of self,

That sense of I-ness,

Of me-ness,

That basic awareness,

That's shared by all of us,

Behind all our different histories and experiences,

Behind all our beliefs,

Attitudes,

Hopes and fears.

For each and every one of us is this simple awareness,

This light of awareness.

It's the one experience that we all share.

It's the core of each and every one of us,

The one that experiences,

Even though all the experiences are different and unique,

Each one of us is the experiencer,

The light of awareness within which everything else happens.

So just as the sun shines on everyone equally,

So too the light of awareness shines from everyone equally.

Enjoying just allowing myself to be as I am,

Accepting the whole of me.

Okay,

So we can move on to the last and the sixth element,

The element of sound.

So connect to your environment right now and actively listen for all the different sounds you can hear right now.

So being alert,

Attentive,

Being open to any sounds that come along.

You may notice the more obvious sounds first,

The loudest or the nearest sounds.

Maybe there's a continuous background sound that's been in your awareness but you haven't really noticed until now.

Now see what sounds you can hear that are quieter and more subtle,

Less obvious.

Maybe very occasional sounds,

Being alert to those when they arrive.

See what the most distant sound is that you can hear.

Are there any sounds coming from far away?

Allow your attention,

Your awareness to be broad and wide.

Ready to catch any distant sound should it arise.

Welcoming each and every sound.

Allowing every sound to pass through my awareness.

And maybe as you become more sensitive to sound you can begin to sense a stillness,

A quietness,

A gentle silence that isn't the absence of sound.

But is there all the time in the background?

The silent space within which all sounds come and go.

As we notice the passing of sounds,

Also noticing that space of silence holding that within our awareness.

So the unique combinations of sounds in each moment will be different for each and every one of us.

The silent space within which all these sounds come and go,

That is what we share.

That is exactly the same for each and every one of us.

So it is in this silence that we can connect.

The silent space within which all sounds come and go.

So running back down through the elements to complete this commentary.

As we allow the sounds to continue,

Coming back to the self,

Allowing ourselves just to be that light of awareness.

Allowing our thoughts to flow freely like a river towards the ocean.

The element of water.

Noticing how I'm feeling and the sensations in the body.

Feeling the aliveness of the body and the emotions and allowing that fire to burn.

And allowing the breath to flow freely as my body is breathed and given life by the element of air.

And returning to that connection with the earth.

Feeling the weight of the body and how the body is being held and supported by the ground as the earth attracts my body towards itself.

That feeling of gravity,

Of weight in the body.

And completing the meditation there.

Reviews

Very soothing rotation through the elements. You have such a calm tone. Many thanks. ☮️💖🙏🖖

Simply relaxing, open and light awareness experience. I found myself travelling through powerful elements that made me feel beautiful inside. I felt my conscious and peaceful being from the very start. This amazing journey this morning is truly what I needed to see my day through.

The guidance from Stephen always has a unique quality ingredient which I find very comforting, pleasantly warm and beautiful.

Thank you Stephen for making my inner and conscious state feeling so good to help me begin a brand new and mindful day ♥️🙏🏻💚✨👌🏻

A wonderful journey- thank you so much and blessings to you 🙏

Great Stephen thankyou. I’m really glad I came across your mediations, I like your straight forward approach and find it very effective 🙏😊

Thanks. I am liking in bed feeling a bit rough. Tomorrow I get my covid test result. I enjoyed connecting with a wider perspective.

Wonderful meditation. Thank you!!
🐝🎁🐾🌷🌹🦋🙏🏽🕊🙏🏾🌲🌿🌱🍁🍂💐🌼

Loved this! His voice takes you on this journey!🙏🕉☮️